Ariston.

[twinniefan]

Hi folks,
I have just been reading a discussion forum here and one topic which had a lot of responses was Ariston washing machines,there were 115 posts and at least 100 of them were quite scathing about poor quality and reliability of this brand.
Many of the posters bought their machines at Harvey Norman stores, which I understand are actually a stakeholder in Ariston, now if there were only 1 or 2, I would put it down to the machines not being treated and used correctly, but 100 is beyond the pale surely?.
It would appear that some brands just don't respect quality any more.
Cheers.
Steve.

 

[Bearpeter]

Sadly you are right....

In the UK...
Hotpoint, Indesit, Creda, Hoover, Candy are not what they used to be (in my opinion) I have a Zanussi condensor dryer (3 years old) and have not been happy with it from the start! (Intermittent squeaks, rasps and grinds) So I think that was a Monday morning or Friday night off the production line machine!!!
My Washer is an AEG washer dryer and has not given me an ounce of trouble... (and perfect results every time!)
Whereas the Indesit we had in our rented flat is 2 years old and has not lasted very well at all and is not good performance wise.

Our AEG is in storage until we buy our next house and can't wait until we get it back...
Peter

 

[dj-gabriele]

Can't tell anything! Seems Italian don't do it better... when we talk about washing & co.
Maybe we just like to spend as little as possible in a washer and replace it in 5-6 years and throw all the savings in a holiday in the Carribean? J/K

Ohhh... btw, Zanussi is an Electrolux brand now...

 

[mrwash]

So, I will just post a list of brands you can throw away, because they produce just junk or aren't what they used to be, then some brands which are "okay" but not really good and finally the top brands.
(Some brands you might not know because they exist only in Germany:

- Indesit, EBD, Samsung, LG, Foron, Bauknecht (what is a pity, they were so great in the past), Amica - don't buy a machine of those brands. You have the choice between one of those machines or throwing your money out of the window - no joke.

The following brands aren't good, too but if you are a bit lucky you might catch a well processed machine:

- AEG, Electrolux (only if you buy an expensive model and even then it is unsure if the machine will survive 3 years)
- Whirlpool (in tests always in the intermediate ranks)
- Hoover/Candy (Sometimes good but most times the machines break down after two or three years)
- Blomberg/Beko (it depends on the model you buy...some machines can be okay (not good (!!!) just "okay") some others are just junk)
- Fagor or Smeg (Fagor is from Spain and Smeg from Italy, can' t really say something about those machines but seem to be not so bad, maybe 2 producers who really know the meaning of the word "quality"...we will see)
- Zanussi is sold under the synonym "privileg" by the catalog company "Quelle" (The consumer mag always valuates the machines well but you have to stay sceptic here. They are not of bad quality (except the cheap ones - they are really poor) but because of cheap material they won't last very long. Many plastic inside)
- Zanker/Hanseatic/Lloyds are exclusively sold by another catalog company called "Neckermann". The machines are not good and not bad. The cheap machines seem to be junk. The expensive ones seem to be better. Zanker offers some good machines. Forget completely about Lloyds and safe your money for anything but not for such a machine.

There are some more junk-brands but you might not know them, so I skip them.

If you want to buy a quite good machine in Germany, you have a very limited range:

- Miele (very good and very expensive)
- Bosch/Siemens (not so expensive but also good machines)
- Constructa (a brand of Siemens, Constructa is a brand which offers cheap machines with not so many programs/options but the material is okay, they are well built)

 

[mrwash]

Add Ariston to the junk-brands -.-

 

[arrrooohhh]

In all honesty and fairness about opinion sites.

Yes Ariston is not the best. BUT opinion sites where people write reviews of their machines are not really that reliable sources of information. People who are happy with their appliance purchase of whatever brand just merrily wash away without a thought. However people with an axe to grind will look for every forum available to vent their anger.

Part of the problem with Australian Ariston purchasers are they are new to front loaders and many gripe will relate to the fact that they are used to toploaders and quicker cycle times. That is not Ariston and Harvey Normans fault. What does contribute that Ariston is responsible for, is being marketed in Australia as a trendy brand.